[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1992-1993, Book II)]
[November 2, 1992]
[Pages 2139-2142]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks on Arrival in Akron, Ohio
November 2, 1992

    The President. Thank you, thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you 
so much.
    Audience members. Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
    The President. What a terrific Akron welcome. Thank you. Thank you 
for that great Ohio welcome. Feel good; I feel good. Thank you very 
much. Thank you very, very much for that welcome. All right. Thank you, 
Governor.
    Let me thank Governor Voinovich. May I start by thanking your great 
Governor, my great friend, George Voinovich, for being at my side, 
leading us to victory in Ohio, and salute Congressman Ralph Regula, one 
of the all-time greats in the Congress, who's with me here today, a 
great man. You know, I want to thank Alex Arshinkoff, a great political 
leader who you heard from earlier, and pay my special thanks to four 
friends who came with us here, traveling with me, the Oak Ridge Boys, 
great Americans, wonderful musicians.
    You know, as you drive down to--there they are. As you drive 
down to the wire I see these signs saying, ``Clean House! Clean House!'' 
Change that one institution, the United States Congress, that hasn't 
changed in 38 years. So let me tell you what to do. Obviously, we need 
Ralph Regula there,

[[Page 2140]]

but send Bob Morgan and Margaret Mueller to Washington as 
Congresspeople. That's what we need. While we're at it, let's clean 
Senate and send Mike DeWine to the United States Senate.
    Your Governor is a man of total truth, like George Washington. He 
never told a lie. He just told me we are going to win Ohio, and I 
believe him. I'm sure it's true.
    You know, I got a big kick out of this the other day. I read in the 
paper that Governor Clinton was already planning his inaugural parade.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. No problem. Put the parade on hold, Bill. Put it on 
hold, because it's not the pundits that matter; it's not the media back 
in Washington, DC, that matters. On Tuesday it is the voter, the 
American people that matter.
    Here's why we're going to win it: Because the choice before the 
American people is a choice of real differences, difference in 
experience, difference in philosophy, and yes, difference in character. 
Character is important. The American people are going to have to decide, 
and they will. The issue tomorrow is also trust, and they're going to 
have to decide: Who do you trust with your children? Who do you trust 
with the United States of America?
    We have literally, through our leadership, helped dramatically 
change the world, bring peace to the world. The young people here today 
go to bed at night without the same fear of nuclear war that their 
parents had. That is dramatic change. Now America's economy is 
recovering. We are going to bring that same leadership, with a brandnew 
Congress, to help every single family here in the United States of 
America.
    You know, one reason that I believe I'm going to win is that things 
are getting in focus on what's happened in Arkansas. The press hasn't 
wanted to talk about it, but I do, because I think it is only fair that 
the American people know what Governor Clinton's record is. They are 
near the bottom on education, 45th for teachers' salaries; 50th for 
environment; terrible on the economy. He's had one good year, and that's 
the year he was out of town most of the time. And the good people of 
Arkansas deserve better. But here's what worries me. Governor Clinton in 
the debate said, ``I want to do for America what I've done for 
Arkansas.'' No way!
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. No, Arkansas changed its slogan from ``Land of 
Opportunity'' to ``Natural State.'' I want America to be the land of 
opportunity, and it is. It is.
    The worst news for Governor Clinton and the worst news for the 
liberals that control the United States Congress is they've been telling 
us all along that we've been in a recession. We have grown for six 
straight quarters, and this quarter grew at 2.7 percent. They're telling 
us that we're worse than Japan, Germany, and Europe. We are better than 
they are, and we're going to make it better still and move this country 
ahead. Yes, people are hurting. Yes, people are hurting, but now with 
things beginning to move, let's not go back and take us back to the tax-
and-spend days that brought us real ruin.
    Governor Clinton--you know, you've been reading he talks about 
investment, we need more money so we have Government invest. Let me tell 
you something. Government never made a sound investment in human beings 
in their life, or in jobs. It's the small business that makes 
investment. Let's help small business: less taxes, less regulation.
    Just so we tell it straight before people go to the polls, talking 
about investment, here's what Governor Clinton said in 1988 in Newsweek. 
He said, ``There's a lot of evidence you can sell people on tax 
increases if they think it's an investment.'' That was what he said 4 
years ago. Now we hear that cry, ``investment.'' What he means is, 
America, watch your wallets. He's coming after you in taxes.
    We are not going to let the middle class pay for that scam. It is a 
scam. Change, change, change, change, says Clinton and the Ozone Man. 
Change, change, change, change, change. That's all you're going to have 
left if he gets in there with more taxes and more Government spending.
    You know why I call him Ozone Man? Let me tell you something, our 
administration has taken the lead on CFC's internationally, the thing 
that causes concern for

[[Page 2141]]

the ozone. We brought you the Clean Air Act. We've done better on 
forests. We've cleaned up the oceans and the beaches. But we are not 
going to go to the extremes like Gore and Clinton when they say, ``We 
want Federal fuel efficiency standards at 40 to 45 miles per gallon.'' 
You've got some great auto workers in this State. I am going to keep 
them at work, not throw them out of work.
    Change, change, Governor Clinton got in a huddle with the handlers, 
and they said keep talking about change. Let me remind you of what it 
was like when we had a Democratic President and a Democratic Congress. 
We had change. We had interest rates at 21 percent. We had inflation at 
15. We had a ``misery index'' at 20 percent. We don't need that kind of 
change for America.
    What we need instead is a positive agenda. We've got one for 
rebuilding our schools, for reforming health care, for creating jobs 
through less spending, less taxation, and more tax breaks for these 
businesses.
    Governor Clinton--I can just feel it, these liberals, they want to 
expand Government, and I want to expand the American dream.
    Now let's talk trust, and let's talk character, because they do 
matter. I love it when that national talking-head media take me on. I 
love it, because I like a good fight. There's no reason my holding back 
anymore.
    Audience members. Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
    The President. Hey, wait a minute, before I go any further, we grant 
amnesty. I want this clearly understood. Grant amnesty to these guys 
over here. Aim your feelings--and I know you have them because every 
time somebody holds up one of those bumper stickers, it says, ``Annoy 
the Media. Re-elect Bush,'' and everybody in this country knows what it 
means. You know what it means. Everybody knows what it means.
    So don't let them tell you that family values don't matter. They do. 
We want to strengthen the American family by backing up our law 
enforcement people. Do what Barbara Bush does, reading to those 
children, get the parents to do that. We have a great First Lady, 
incidentally.
    Give them school choice so the parent can choose private, public, or 
religious schools. We've already brought choice in child care. 
Strengthen the American family. Strengthen the American family.

[At this point, there was an interruption in the audience.]

    I think we need a doctor over here. We'll get it. Somebody will be 
coming. And now let's finish. And let's be sure we get attention. 
They've got somebody--all right? Okay. We'll get--is she okay? Now, here 
we go. We've had a little accident over here.
    But let me just say this: It is character and it is trust that is 
going to determine this election. There's no question about it. Listen 
to the words of Horace Greeley. You young people particularly, remember 
this. Here's what he said. He said, ``Fame is a vapor, popularity an 
accident, riches take wing; only character endures.'' And this is true. 
This is very true.
    Governor Clinton said in the debate, he said it's not the character 
of the President, it is ``the character of the Presidency.'' Wrong, 
they're interlocked. The President is forming the character of the 
Presidency. And that is important.
    Audience members. Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
    The President. We cannot have a pattern of deception. It's like any 
family. A President makes a mistake, he says, ``Look, I made a mistake. 
Now let me help continue to lead this country.'' You cannot be on all 
sides of all issues if you're President of the United States.
    I'll give you one example. Let me give you one example. When I had 
to make the toughest decision of my life, whether to send somebody 
else's son, somebody else's daughter into combat on Desert Storm, I made 
a decision not because it was popular. We had plenty of people in the 
media, plenty of people demonstrating, plenty of Congressmen telling me 
it was wrong. But I made the right decision. And what did Governor 
Clinton say? He said, ``I agree with the arguments of the minority, but 
I guess I would have voted with the majority.'' What kind of Commander 
in Chief will waffle like that?
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. As a result, we crushed

[[Page 2142]]

aggression. We lifted the spirits of America. We honored the Vietnam 
veterans as well as the veterans of Desert Storm.
    There was a very interesting announcement out of Baghdad, of all 
places, the other day, that Saddam Hussein's government is planning a 
party--they said 500,000 people--if Governor Clinton wins. Well, Saddam, 
put it on hold, old fellow, because we are going to make you live up to 
every resolution passed by the United Nations. We're going to make you 
lighten up on the people of Iraq.
    I ask this at the end. We've helped the world become more peaceful 
by busting up international communism. But let me tell you this: The 
world is still a dangerous place. I don't want to cut into the muscle of 
our defense. I feel a responsibility to young people to keep this 
country strong. We've reduced defense, but we can't do what Clinton and 
Gore want, cut right into the muscle of the defense. I'm not going to do 
that. The reason we're not is because it still is a dangerous place, 
this world of ours. It's still a dangerous place. I believe that we need 
a Commander in Chief that the people trust, who has had the experience 
and hopefully has demonstrated the character to lead this country in 
peace and to lead it in war.
    And so tomorrow----
    Audience members. Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
    The President. So tomorrow when you go into that polling booth----
    Audience members. Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
    The President. So tomorrow when you go into that polling booth, 
pollsters be darned, everything else aside, I ask for your support. I 
ask for your trust to lead this great country for 4 more years.
    Thank you, and may God bless the greatest country on the face of the 
Earth. May God bless the United States of America.
    Don't listen to these guys that say we're in decline. We are the 
United States. God bless you all. Thank you very much. Great rally. Now 
go to the polls, Ohio.

                    Note: The President spoke at 1:52 p.m. at Akron-
                        Canton Regional Airport. In his remarks, he 
                        referred to Alex Arshinkoff, Summit County 
                        Republican chairman.